Artificial ice rink



Oct. 11, 1960 N. E. F. NILSSON 2,955,437

ARTIFICIAL ICE RINK Filed Jan. 18, 1957 h k A "ar a of the pipes.

' 2,955,437 ARTIFICIAL-ICE RINK Nils Edvin Folke Nilsson, Klingsbergsgatan 21,

Norrkoping, Sweden Filed Elan. 18,1957, Ser. No. 635,063 Claims priority, application Sweden Jan. 31, 1956 1 Claim. (Cl. 62-235) The present invention relates to artificial ice rinks having cooling pipes laid therein.

The object of the invention is to provide a rink of thiskind the freezing of which requires less refrigerating capacity and less power consumption than hitherto necessary and may be carried out more evenly than heretofore possible, and results in a 'better ice quality which in spite of radiation from the sun and the influence of warm air currents can maintain its hardness and clarity.

The invention is characterized by the fact that the supporting base for the ice is covered next to the ice layer with a radiant heat reflecting, preferably alkaline material, such as, for instance, marble sand.

The invention is illustrated in the accompanying drawing which shows a cross section of a portion of an ice rink according to the invention.

Thev cooling pipes 3 rest in the usual way on a bed comprised of sills 2 supported on well drained heavy gravel, shingle, or the like, indicated by numeral 1, which material is' free from clay. Distance members are disposed between pipes 3 to maintain the proper spacing The spaces between the pipes are filled United States Patent up to about the level of the upper surface of the cooling pipes 3 with a layer of clear sand 5.

With such an ice rink, familiar in itself, freezing is effected by soaking the sand and gravel surrounding the pipes with water which is caused to freeze so that a firm and tight bedding is obtained.

According to the present invention, on the surface the sand filling 5 and the top surfaces of pipes 3 a finely ground, highly reflecting material 6, such as marble sand, is strewn until a layer of, say 2 or 3 mm. in thickness is formed.

Water is then sprayed on top and allowed to freeze to form a layer of ice 7. The reflecting material should preferably be of a slightly alkaline nature, whereby the bed around the pipes may be neutralized and the pipes may be protected against corrosion.

It is to be noted that if the pipes are embedded in concrete the finely ground material may be replaced by a radiant heat reflecting material painted on the surface of the concrete, such as, for instance, an aluminium paint or the like.

I claim:

In an artificial outdoor ice rink in combination, a set of cooling pipes arranged in spaced relation to each other, a bedding therefor, a non-radiant heat reflecting material filling up the spaces between the pipes up to level with the uppermost portions of the pipes, and a heat-radiant reflecting material covering the cooling pipes and said filling material at said level to act as an ice supporting layer.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS Dickson ..f Jan. 31, 1956 OTHER REFERENCES Refrigeration Engineering, May 1931, pages 334-339 (page 339 pertinent). 

